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This book is designed to act as an off-the-shelf guide to assist health care providers evaluating patients presenting common musculoskeletal complaints in the primary care setting. It is divided into chapters covering major body regions and injuries.

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This book is designed to act as an off-the-shelf guide to assist health care providers evaluating patients presenting with common musculoskeletal complaints in the primary care setting. The result of a $750,000 research grant that studied how comfortable primary care providers felt when treating musculoskeletal conditions, this book addresses the common finding that family physcians felt unprepared despite frequently seeing these types of complaints. Since the primary care physician operates in a different environment than an orthopedic surgeon, the approach to the patient presenting in the primary care clinic must also differ from the specialist´s approach. This book has been divided into chapters covering major body regions and injuries, and each chapter includes: Red flags, which are conditions requiring immediate treatment and referral; basic anatomy of the body region; Clinical evaluation techniques and tear sheets for use during examination; Common clinical diagnoses; and disposition of the patient illustrated with helpful flow charts.

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Introduction.- The Cervical Spine.- The Shoulder.- The Elbow.- The Hand and Wrist.- The Lumbosacral Spine.- The Hip.- The Knee.- The Ankle.- Common Pediatric Musculoskeletal Problems.- The Acutely Painful, Swollen Joint.- Muscuoloskeletal Radiology.- Splinting and Soft Tissue Issues.- Pre-participation Evaluation.- Appendix.

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From the reviews:
"This primer provides on-the-spot information on common musculoskeletal issues for primary care providers. ... provide good, basic information on common musculoskeletal problems, the book is best suited for trainees such as medical students, physician assistant students, and residents. ... It covers a nice range of topics related to common musculoskeletal problems in every major category. ... This book may be quite useful for medical students or residents who are learning diagnosis and evaluation of musculoskeletal problems." (Jessica Favero Butts, Doody´s Review Service, January, 2011)

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